The government has also already committed to raising the income tax personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020.

The Queen said: “My government will legislate in the interests of everyone in the country.

“It will adopt a one-nation approach, helping working people get on, supporting aspiration, giving new opportunities to the disadvantaged and bringing different parts of our country together.”

Prime minister David Cameron said: “As part of our long-term plan to back working people and make work pay, the government is determined to reward work by letting people keep even more of the money they earn.

“Today, the government is going further in its actions to offer more security to working people by confirming that legislation will be brought forward to ensure that future increases to the income tax personal allowance reflect changes to the national minimum wage.”

The tax and NI comments made in today’s Speech hint their proposed merger has been put on the back-burner. This is good news for pensioners, who could have been subject to an increase in tax if they were merged, and the benefits of salary sacrifice are retained, so this would also be viewed positively.